Levels of organochlorine pest icides
in the blood serum of agricultural workers
f rom Rio de Janeiro St ate, Brazil
Níve is d e p e stic id as o rg ano c lo rad o s no so ro
sang üíne o d e ag ric ulto re s d o Estad o d o
Rio d e Jane iro , Brasil
1 La b o ratório de Tox i c o l o g i a Am b i e n t a l , Escola Na c i o n a l de Saúde Pública, Fundação Osw aldo Cruz. Av. Brasil 4365, Rio de Ja n e i ro, RJ 2 1 0 4 5 - 9 0 0 , Bra s i l . 2 Instituto Nacional de Te c n o l o g i a . Av. Venezuela 82, Rio de Ja n e i ro, RJ 2 0 0 8 1 - 3 1 0 , Bra s i l . 3 Instituto Adolfo Lu t z . Av. D r. Arnaldo 355, São Pa u l o, S P 0 1 2 4 6 - 0 0 0 , Bra s i l .
Francisco José Roma Pa u m g a rtten 1
Isabella Fernandes Delgado 1
Elba Santos Ol i ve i ra 2
Irene Baptista Alleluia 2
Heloisa H.C. Ba r retto 3
Te reza A. Kussumi 3
Abstract Serum levels of organochlorine pesticides (OCP) were measured in agricultural workers from Rio de Ja n e i ro St a t e , Bra z i l . Blood samples from 26 volunteworkers (24 males, 02 females, 1 7 -60 years old) were taken in October 1997. OCP residues (op’DDT pp’ D D T, p p’ D D D, p p’ D D E, a l d r i n , d i e l d r i n , e n d r i n , h e p t a c h l o r, h e p t a c h l o r- e p ox i d e ,α- ,β- and γ- h ex a c h l o ro c y c l o h ex a n e , and hex a c h l o ro b e n zene) were analyzed by gas chro m a t o g raphy with an electron capture detec-t o r. Tesdetec-ts dedetec-tecdetec-ted pp’DDE in 16 oudetec-t of 26 samples, budetec-t pp’DDE concendetec-tradetec-tion exceeded 1.4 µg/L
( i . e . 1 . 8 , 2.4 and 4.4 µg/L) in only 3 of these.β-HCH was found in 6 (23.1%) out of 26 samples. In
one sample β-HCH did not exceed 1.4 µg/L, but in the remaining samples concentrations ra n g e d
f rom 1.4 to 5.3 µg/L. The percentage of positive pp’DDE samples increased from the youngest
(≤29 yrs: 30.0%) to the oldest age group (≥40 yrs: 1 0 0 % ) . A similar trend was found for β- H C H
contamination (≤29 yrs: 0 % ; 30-39 yrs: 2 0 . 0 % ;≥40 yrs: 6 6 . 7 % ) . Dieldrin (3.7 µg/L) was found in only one sample. No other OCP residue was found in the samples. Serum concentrations of OCPs found in this study are comparable to levels re p o rted for the non-occupationally exposed popu-lation in Brazil and elsew h e re .
Key words Pe s t i c i d e s ; D D T; Di e l d r i n ; Occupational Ex p o s u re
Resumo Os níveis sangüíneos de pesticidas organoclorados (OCP) foram determinados em a g r i c u l t o res do Estado do Rio de Ja n e i ro, Bra s i l . Am o s t ras de soro de 26 voluntários (24 homens, duas mulhere s , e n t re 17 e 60 anos de idade) foram re t i radas em outubro de 1997. Os resíduos de OCP (op’DDT pp’ D D T, p p’ D D D, p p’ D D E, a l d r i n , d i e l d r i n , e n d r i n , h e p t a c l o r, h e p t a c l o r- e p ó x i d o, α- ,β- γ- h ex a c l o ro c i c l o h exano e hex a c l o ro b e n zeno) foram analisados por cro m a t o g rafia gasosa com detector de captura de elétro n s . O pp’DDE foi detectado em 16 das 26 amostra s , mas em
apenas três delas os níveis de pp’DDE exc e d e ram 1,4 µg/L (1,8; 2,4 e 4,4 µg/L). O β-HCH foi
en-c o n t rado em seis (23,1%) das 26 amostra s . Em uma das amostras o β-HCH não excedeu a 1,4
µ g / L , mas nas restantes as concentrações va r i a ram de 1,4 a 5,3 µg/L. A percentagem de amostra s
p o s i t i vas para pp’DDE aumentou do grupo mais jovem (≤29 anos: 30,0%) para o mais velho (≥40
a n o s : 1 0 0 % ) . Uma tendência semelhante foi observada para a contaminação por β-HCH (≤29
a n o s : 0 % ; 30-39 anos: 2 0 , 0 % ;≥40 anos: 6 6 , 7 % ) . O dieldrin (3.7 µg/L) foi encontrado em apenas uma das amostra s . Nenhum outro resíduo de OCP foi encontrado nas amostra s . As concen-t rações de OCPs enconconcen-tradas nos agriculconcen-tores são comparáveis aos níveis sangüíneos re l a concen-t a d o s p a ra a população não exposta ocupacionalmente no Brasil e em outros países.
PA U M G A RTTEN, F. J. R. e t al. 3 4
Cad. Saúde Púb lica , Rio de Jane iro , 14(Sup . 3):33-39, 1998 I n t ro d u c t i o n
A g ri c u l t u ral workers from T h i rd World coun-t ries are acoun-t parcoun-ticularly high risk for pescoun-ticide- pesticide-related illnesses. In developing countri e s, as a ru l e, agrochemicals are carelessly handled and personal pro t e c t i ve equipment as well as ade-quate clothing are seldom used by workers en-gaged in mixing, loading, and spraying pesti-cides (Fo rget, 1991; Je y a ratnam, 1993). Fu r-t h e rm o re, lack of gove rnmenr-t and public con-c e rn, lacon-ck of stringent re g u l a t i o n s, low stan-d a rstan-ds of living, poor estan-ducation, anstan-d illitera c y in ru ral areas are factors that contribute to make occupational exposure to pesticides a major public health problem in less deve l o p e d c o u n t ri e s.
In Brazil, as well as in most Latin Ameri c a n c o u n t ri e s, pesticides are extensively used for c rop protection and to control insect-born e diseases (e.g., malaria, dengue, ye l l ow feve r, C h a g a s’ disease, leishmaniasis, and bubonic plague) but health surveillance of agri c u l t u ra l w o rkers and biological monitoring of occupa-tional pesticide exposure have seldom been p e rf o rmed.
Owing to their environmental persistence, bioaccumulation in food chains, and ve ry slow elimination from the human body, most o rg a n o c h l o rine pesticides (OCP) we re banned f rom agri c u l t u ral use in Brazil in 1985 (Bra z i l , 1985). Howe ve r, their use in public health cam-paigns is still allowed, and it has been re p o rt e d that the National Health Foundation used 3,000 tons of dichloro d i p h e n y l t ri c h l o ro e t h a n e ( D D T) to control the mosquito Anopheles dar-l i n g i(one of the vectors of malaria) in the Ama-zon Region in 1992 (Ol i ve i ra - Fi l h o, 1997). Mo re-ove r, illegal tra d e, non-authori zed use of OCPs in agri c u l t u re and areas highly contaminated with technical grade hexachloro c yc l o h e x a n e (HCH) have been cause for concern in Bra z i l .
Re c e n t l y, there has been growing public health concern related to environmental pollu-tants which have the potential to interact with the endocrine system, i.e., the so-called “e n-d o c rine n-disru p t o r s”. It has been n-demonstra t e n-d that exposure to some persistent org a n o c h l o-rine compounds such as DDT and its metabo-l i t e s, pometabo-lyc h metabo-l o rinated biphenymetabo-ls (PCBs), and d i oxins may cause re p ro d u c t i ve failure in wildlife species (e.g., DDT-induced egg shell thinning in birds of prey) as a consequence of their hormone-like effects. Since certain types of cancer (e.g., breast, pro s t a t e, and testicular) h a ve an endocri n e - related etiology, debate has heightened concerning the potential link be-t ween org a n o c h l o rine compounds and be-these
t u m o r s. For instance, a study by Wolff et al. (1993) found that breast cancer was closely a ssociated with serum levels of DDE [1,1-d i c h l o ro - 2 , 2 - b i s ( p - c h l o rophenyl)ethylene], the main metabolite of DDT. Howe ve r, data fro m other recent studies did not support the hy-pothesis that exposure to DDT and other per-sistent org a n o c h l o rine compounds incre a s e s risk of breast cancer (Krieger et al, 1994; Hu n t e r et al, 1997; Schecter et al, 1997).
Whether human exposure to persistent o rg a n o c h l o rine compounds has adverse health consequences is still a matter of controve r s y. Howe ve r, within this context, exposure assess-ments and more data on the human popula-tions exposed to org a n o c h l o rine compounds a re urgently needed.
The present study was undertaken to pro-vide data on org a n o c h l o rine pesticides conta-mination of agri c u l t u ral workers from Rio de Ja n e i ro St a t e. It is part of a more compre h e n-s i ve evaluation of the expon-sure of the Bra z i l i a n population to persistent org a n o c h l o rine pesti-c i d e s.
M e t h o d s
Pa t y- d o - A l f e res (22o1 5 ’ - 2 2o30’ So u t h and 43o
1 6 ’ - 4 3o31’ West) is a small county located in the
Se r ra - d o - Mar mountain ra n g e, some 130 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro. Most of its 22,500 inhabitants live in the ru ral area, and farm i n g ( t o m a t o e s, green peppers, cabbage, cauliflowe r, and other vegetables) has been the main eco-nomic activity in the region for decades.
Twe n t y-six volunteers (24 males and 2 fe-males) took part in the present study. Re c ru i t-ment for vo l u n t a ry participation invo l ved con-tact with the four main tomato planters fro m the ru ral districts of Ca e t é s, Campo Ve rd e, and Bela Vista. All participants we re agri c u l t u ra l w o rkers who had been engaged in mixing, loading, and/or applying pesticides. Data on the use of personal pro t e c t i ve equipment, type of exposure to pesticides, and work history are s h own in Table 1. Volunteers we re asked to sign an In f o rmed Consent form after having re-c e i ved a full explanation of the objere-ctives and p ro c e d u res to be followed in the study. After-w a rd s, all participants After-we re interv i e After-wed and examined by a medical doctor, and blood ples we re drawn from an arm vein. Blood sam-ples we re taken in silicone-coated Va c u t a i n e r®
Lutz In s t i t u t e, São Pa u l o, where they we re an-a l y zed for org an-a n o c h l o rine pesticide re s i d u e s. Except for Va c u t a i n e r®t u b e s, all vials we re pre
-washed with residue grade n- h e x a n e. Ad d i t i o n-al blood samples we re collected for assessing basic hematological parameters as well as for biochemical liver and kidney function tests. O rg a n o c h l o rine residues we re extracted with
n-hexane and analyzed by gas chro m a t o g ra p h y with an electron capture detector (Ni63) as pre-viously described by Dale et al. (1970). Ni t ro-gen (high purity grade) was the carrier gas at 40 ml/min. Chro m a t o g raphic parameters we re as f o l l ows: column tempera t u re: 60oC, 25oC / m i n ,
1 9 0oC, 5oC/min, 280oC (2 min), injector
tem-p e ra t u re: 250oC, and detector tempera t u re :
3 2 0oC. A capillary column (25m x 0.25mm x
0.33µm) with 5% phenyl methyl siloxane was
used. Limits for residue quantification which we re validated for the present method are as f o l l ows: o p’D D T,p p’DDT and p p’DDD = 2.8 µg/L; p p’DDE = 1.4 µg/L; aldrin, dieldrin, en-d rin, heptachlor, anen-d heptachlor- e p oxien-de = 1.4 µg/L; α- and γ- h e x a c h l o ro c yclohexane (HCH) = 0.7 µg/L, β-HCH = 1.4 µg/L; hexachloro b e n-zene (HCB) = 0.7 µg/L. All blood samples we re taken and analyzed in October 1997.
Result s and discussion
DDT derivat ives
The deri va t i ves o p’D D T,p p’DDT and p p’ D D D we re not found in any of the samples analyze d . On the other hand, as shown in Table 2, p p’ D D E Tab le 1
O c c up atio nal d ata fro m the g ro up o f ag ric ultural wo rke rs who to o k p art in the pre se nt study. All p artic ip ants a re fro m Paty-d o -Alfe re s, Rio d e Jane iro State , whe re the y g ro w to mato e s, g re e n pe p p e rs, c ab b ag e , c auliflo we r, and o the r ve g e tab le s.
N u m b e r S e x Age (yrs) Time (yrs) in Typ e of exposure Use of prot ect ive agricult ural w ork e q u i p m e n t
To t a l With p e stic id e s
1 M 5 0 4 0 4 0 A, M, L N o
2 M 3 4 2 7 2 1 A, M, L N o
3 M 4 4 3 7 3 4 A N o
4 M 3 6 2 3 2 3 A N o
5 M 2 6 1 5 1 2 A N o
6 M 3 0 2 2 2 2 A N o
7 M 3 1 2 3 2 3 M , L N o
8 M 2 5 1 5 1 5 A N o
9 M 2 6 1 6 8 A N o
1 0 M 2 1 9 9 A N o
1 1 M 5 9 4 1 4 1 M , L N o
1 2 M 3 6 2 9 2 9 A, M, L N o
1 3 M 3 2 1 9 1 9 A N o
1 4 M 3 0 2 0 1 2 A N o
1 5 M 1 8 1 1 1 M, L N o
1 6 M 3 0 1 8 1 3 A N o
1 7 M 1 7 < 1 < 1 A N o
1 8 M 1 8 4 < 1 A N o
1 9 M 3 3 2 3 2 3 A N o
2 0 M 6 0 3 5 3 5 A N o
2 1 M 2 9 2 2 2 2 A, M, L N o
2 2 M 2 8 2 0 2 0 A N o
2 3 F 4 5 3 0 3 0 M N o
2 4 F 4 9 4 2 4 2 M N o
2 5 M 2 6 1 9 1 9 A, M, L N o
2 6 M 3 0 1 5 1 5 A N o
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Cad. Saúde Púb lica , Rio de Jane iro , 14(Sup . 3):33-39, 1998
c h ro m a t o g raphic peaks we re detected in 16 (61.5 %) out of 26 serum samples, but p p’ D D E c o n c e n t ration exceeded 1.4 µg/L (i . e .1.8, 2.4 and 4.4 µg/L) in only in 3 (11.5%). Te c h n i c a l DDT consists predominantly of p p’DDT and some o p’ D D T. In the human body, p p’DDT i s s l owly dechlorinated to p p’DDD and p p’ D D E , the latter being even more persistent than the p a rent compound (W H O, 1979). T h e re f o re, since no p p’DDT was found in the blood sam-p l e s, contamination of agri c u l t u ral workers asam-p- ap-pears to have resulted from past exposure to technical grade DDT, years ago, and/or fro m intake of p p’DDE residues present in food (e. g . , meat, milk, eggs). It has been demonstra t e d that p p’DDE, expressed as a percentage of total D D T- related material, increases in individuals after DDT ingestion decreases and also in-c reases in suin-cin-cessive steps of the food in-chain ( W H O, 1979). It is of note that, in the pre s e n t
s u rve y, the percentage of p p’ D D E - p o s i t i ve sam-ples increased from the youngest (=29 yrs: 30.0%) to the oldest age group (=40 yrs: 100%) (Table 3).
T h e re are only a few studies on blood leve l s of DDT in the Brazilian population. As show n in Table 4, levels of p p’DDE and total-DDT in blood samples of non-occupationally exposed Brazilians in 1972 are considerably higher than s e rum concentrations of p p’DDE in agri c u l t u r-al workers from Pa t y- d o - A l f e re s, Rio de Ja n e i ro St a t e, in 1997. Si m i l a r l y, levels found in the pre-sent study are lower than serum concentra t i o n s of p p’DDE and total DDT in samples of the gen-e ral population from São Pa u l o, Go i á s, and Ba-hia States in the 1980s and early 1990s (Table 4).
H e x a c h l o rocyclohexane isomers
β-HCH was detected in 6 (23.1%) out of 26 s a m p l e s. In one sample β-HCH did not exc e e d 1.4 µg/L, but in the remaining samples, con-c e n t rations ranged from 1.4 to 5.3 µg/L ( Ta b l e 2). As shown in Table 1, traces of p p’DDE we re p resent in all samples in which β-HCH was found. No β- H C H - p o s i t i ve sample was found in the youngest group (≤29 yrs), and the per-centage of positive samples in the interm e d i-ate age group (30-39 yrs: 20.0%) was lower than that in the oldest group (≥40 yrs: 66.7%) (Ta b l e 3). Murphy & Ha rvey (1985) found a similar t rend analyzing 6252 blood samples (17-74 years of age) from the United States popula-tion. β-HCH was detected in 13.9% of the sam-ples (mean: 1.7 µg/L; range: 1.0-28.0 µg/L), and the percentage of positive samples incre a s e d with age from 3.2 to 26.8% (Murphy & Ha rve y, 1985). Levels of β-HCH in blood samples of a g ri c u l t u ral workers from Pa t y- d o - A l f e res we re not higher than those that had been re p o rt e d for the general population in Brazil and else-w h e re. Likeelse-wise, even higher serum concentra-tions we re found in samples of the genera l population from São Paulo and Bahia States in the 1980s and 1990s (Table 5). Blood serum lev-els of β-HCH we re also higher in Bra z i l i a n adults living in Cidade-dos-Meninos (Rio de Ja n e i ro State), a highly contaminated area near the ruins of a former technical-HCH manufac-t u ring planmanufac-t (Braga, 1990). Blood concenmanufac-tra- concentra-tions of β-HCH measured in the present study we re much lower than those re p o rted for occu-p a t i o n a l l y-exoccu-posed work e r s. As shown in Ta b l e 5, serum levels of β-HCH in workers from ca-cao plantations in Bahia State (Ca rva l h o, 1991) a re higher than those found in agri c u l t u ra l w o rkers from Pa t y- d o - A l f e res in 1997. It should be borne in mind, howe ve r, that technical-Tab le 2
Co nc e ntratio ns (µg / L) o f β-HCH, d ie ld rin, and p p ’DDE in the b lo o d se rum o f ag ric ultural wo rke rs fro m Paty-d o -Alfe re s, Rio d e Jane iro State , Brazil (O c to b e r 1997).
N umber S e x Age (yrs) β-H C H d i e l d r i n p p’ D D E
1 M 5 0 n d n d < 1.4
2 M 3 4 1 . 4 n d < 1. 4 3 M 4 4 < 1.4 n d < 1.4
4 M 3 6 1 . 7 n d 4 . 4
5 M 2 6 n d n d n d
6 M 3 0 n d n d < 1.4
7 M 3 1 n d n d < 1.4
8 M 2 5 n d n d n d
9 M 2 6 n d n d n d
1 0 M 2 1 n d n d n d
1 1 M 5 9 n d n d < 1.4
1 2 M 3 6 n d n d n d
1 3 M 3 2 n d n d < 1.4
1 4 M 3 0 n d n d n d
1 5 M 1 8 n d n d < 1.4
1 6 M 3 0 n d n d n d
1 7 M 1 7 n d n d n d
1 8 M 1 8 n d n d n d
1 9 M 3 3 n d n d < 1.4
2 0 M 6 0 1 . 7 n d < 1.4
2 1 M 2 9 n d n d n d
2 2 M 2 8 n d n d 1 . 8
2 3 F 4 5 1 . 7 n d < 1.4
2 4 F 4 9 5 . 3 3 . 7 2 . 4
2 5 M 2 6 n d n d < 1.4
2 6 M 3 0 n d n d < 1.4
g rade HCH was still extensively used in cacao plantations in So u t h e rn Bahia when blood samples we re taken in 1983-1985 (Ca rva l h o, 1991). Se rum concentrations of β-HCH in Pa t y-d o - A l f e res workers are also much lower than those found by Minelli & Ribeiro (1996) and Ca rvalho (1991) in mosquito control spra ye r s f rom São Paulo and Bahia St a t e s, re s p e c t i ve l y (Table 5).
No α- or γ-HCH was detected in blood sam-ples analyzed in the present study. β-HCH is only a minor component (7-10%) of technical BHC but it is the most persistent HCH isomer in the human body (W H O, 1992). It has been re p o rted that after exposure ceases in humans,
β-HCH levels in fatty tissues decrease only slightly over seve ral years (W H O, 1992).
Aldrin and dieldrin
A l d rin was not detected in any serum sample in this surve y. This is not surprising, since a l d rin is rapidly conve rted to dieldrin in the b o d y. On the other hand, dieldrin (biological half-life = 267 days; To rdoir & van Si t t e rt, 1994) was found in only one sample (a female work-e r, 49 yrs old) at a concwork-entration of 3.7 µg/L ( Table 2). This value is within the va ri a t i o n range found for members of the general popu-lations in different countries until the 1980s (W H O, 1989), and it is well below the Bi o l o g i c a l Limit Value (blood: 100 µg/L) recommended by To rdoir and van Si t t e rt (1994). Higher levels of d i e l d rin in Brazilian workers we re re p o rted in the 1980s. Lara et al. (1981) analyzed the blood s e rum of 18 agri c u l t u ral workers from São
José do Rio Preto (São Paulo State) and found a mean concentration of dieldrin of 490 ± 360 µg/L (mean ± S.D.), with values ranging fro m 50 to 1,370 µg/L. In 1983-1985, Ca rvalho (1991) found a high mean concentration of dieldrin of 1.3 ± 0.5 µg/L (mean ± S.D.) in serum samples of 10 agri c u l t u ral workers from cacao planta-tions in Bahia St a t e. Lara et al. (1987) detected d i e l d rin at concentrations of <10 to 80 µg/L in the blood serum of 51 people living in are a s w h e re Chagas’ disease was endemic in Go i á s St a t e.
Tab le 3
Ag e -de p e nd e nce o f c o ntaminatio n b y DDT ( p p’ DD E) and β-HCH in ag ric ultural wo rke rs fro m Paty-d o -Alfe re s, Rio d e Jane iro State . Se rum samp le s we re take n f ro m 26 vo lunte e rs in O c to b e r 1 997.
Age (years)
≤ 2 9 30 to 39 ≥ 4 0 17 to 60
S e rum samples
To tal analyze d (n) 1 0 1 0 6 2 6
Posit ive samples
p p’D DE
n 3 7 6 1 6
% 3 0 . 0 7 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0a 6 1 . 5
β-HCH
n 0 2 4 6
% 0 2 0 . 0a 6 6 . 7a b 2 3 . 1
Data we re analyze d b y the c hi-sq uare te st o r, alte rn a t i v e l y, b y Fische r’s e xact te st. P e rce ntag e s sig nificantly d iff e re nt (P< 0.05) fro m the yo ung e st g ro up (≤29 yrs) and fro m the inte rme d iate ag e g ro up (30- 39 yrs) are ind ic ate d b y supe rsc rip ts a
and bre s p e c t i v e l y.
Tab le 4
L i t e r a t u re d ata o n b lo o d se rum le ve ls (µg / L) o f p p’ DDE and to tal DDT in Brazilian adults.
E x p o s u re S t a t e Sample size p p’ D D E Total D DT R e f e re n c e
G P RJ 3 0 1 5 5 . 0 + 3 3 6 . 0 + Alme id a, 197 2 G P ES 1 1 1 1 7 . 0 + 1 9 4 . 0 + Alme id a, 1972
G P S P 4 2 2 3 . 9 + – F e rníc o la & Aze ve d o , 1982 G P G O 5 1 1 0 . 0 - 1 0 0 0 . 0 + + – Lara e t al, 1987
G P B A 5 0 8 . 3 + 1 4 . 3 + C a rvalho , 1991 G P S P 1 6 1 4 . 3 + 1 6 . 1 + M ine lli & Rib e iro , 1996 AW B A 1 0 1 6 . 0 + 1 8 . 1 + C a rvalho , 1 991 AW B A 1 9 1 8 . 0 + 1 8 . 0 + C a rvalho , 1991 V C B A 1 5 4 7 . 7 + 1 1 2 . 8 + C a rvalho , 1991 V C B A 1 4 3 4 4 . 4 + 7 0 2 . 7 + C a rvalho , 1991 V C S P 2 6 6 4 . 3 + 7 6 . 9 + M ine lli & Rib e iro , 1996
AW R J 2 6 nd - 4.4+ + nd - 4.4+ + This st udy, 19 97
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Cad . Saúd e Púb lic a, Rio de Jane iro , 14(Sup. 3):33-39, 1998
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by grants from PA D C T- I I (CIAMB-FINEP), DESUSMO/Eu ropean Union, and FNMA. IFD and FJRP are recipients of re s e a rch fel-l owships from CNPq (Brazifel-lian Nationafel-l Re s e a rc h Council). The stimulating cooperation with the staff of the Municipal Health Se c re t a riat in Pa t y- d o - A l f e re s is gratefully acknowledged.
O ther organochlorine pest icide re s i d u e s
Other cyclodiene pesticide re s i d u e s, such as e n d rin (biological half-life = 20 hours) and h e p t a c h l o r- e p ox i d e, the half-life of which is long and comparable with that of dieldrin (To r-doir and van Si t t e rt, 1994), we re not found in any sample of the present study. The fungicide h e x a c h l o ro b e n zene was not detected in any sample either.
C o n c l u s i o n s
In conclusion, data from the present study suggest that agri c u l t u ral workers from Pa t y d o -Alferes, Rio de Janeiro State, are not occupationally exposed to highly persistent org a n o c h l o -Tab le 5
L i t e r a t u re d ata o n b lo o d se rum le ve ls (µg / L) o f β-HCH in Brazilian ad ults.
E x p o s u re S t a t e Sample size β- H C H R e f e re n c e
G P S P 4 2 7 . 3 + F e rníc o la & Aze ve d o , 198 2 G P B A 5 0 2 . 6 + C a rvalho , 1991
G P S P 1 6 3 . 4 + Mine lli & Rib e iro , 19 96 H C A R J 3 1 1.0 - 207.3 + + Brag a, 1990
AW B A 6 2 0 . 2 + C a rvalho , 1 991 AW B A 7 8 6 . 7 + C a rvalho , 1991 AW B A 6 8 4 . 0 + C a rvalho , 1991 AW B A 1 0 3 . 7 + C a rvalho , 1 991 AW B A 1 9 8 . 0 + C a rvalho , 1991 V C B A 1 5 6 . 0 + C a rvalho , 1 991 V C B A 1 4 1 3 . 8 + C a rvalho , 1 991 V C S P 2 6 3 2 . 0 + Mine lli & Rib e iro , 19 96
AW R J 2 6 nd - 5.3 + + This st udy, 1997
+ me an value s + + minimum and maximum value s; G P: g e ne ral p o pulatio n; HC A: pe o ple living in a hig hly
c o ntaminate d are a (C id ade d o s Me nino s, D uq ue d e Caxias, RJ); AW: agric ultural wo rke rs; VC: ve c to r c o ntro l wo rke rs; SP: São Paulo ; BA: Bahia; RJ: Rio d e Jane iro ; nd: no t d e te c te d .
rine pesticides such as DDT (biological half-life in adipose tissue = 3.4 years; To rdoir and Si t t e rt, 1994), technical grade HCH, aldri n / d i e l drin, heptachlor, or HCB. The low levels of
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